Eye of the storm: Mizzou basketball faces Miami in NCAA Tournament first round
Throughout the last 10 games of the regular season, much of the conversation revolved around Mizzou's placement as a bubble team.
The Tigers were in and out of NCAA Tournament bracketology with the ups and downs that came with their big wins and losses, but ultimately ended up a 10-seed that didn't have to travel too far to contend for the national title.
No. 10 Mizzou will take on No. 7 Miami (Fla.) at 9:10 p.m. Friday at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis with hopes of making it out of the first round of the Big Dance. But a physical, aggressive Miami team stands in the way.
Miami (25-8) finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference, boasting a 13-5 record. The Hurricanes fell 82-68 to Virginia in the ACC Tournament semifinals after beating Louisville 78-73 in the quarterfinals.
Malik Reneau leads Miami in scoring, averaging 18.8 points per game. Tre Donaldson follows with 16.5 ppg and a team-best 5.8 assists. Donaldson and Mizzou's Anthony Robinson II grew up together, going all the way back to first grade.
"He's a great point guard," Robinson said of his former teammate. "He distributes the ball well, but he can also score. So we’ve really got to limit his touches, and he does a lot for the Miami team.
"At the end of the day, we're all competitors — but it's all love at the end of the day. I just want to get out there and compete to my highest abilities and show them what I'm capable of."
The last time the Tigers and Hurricanes matched up was in the first round of the NCAA Tournament back in 2002. Then-No. 12 seed Mizzou upset No. 5 seed Miami 93-80 en route to its fourth Elite Eight appearance in school history.
Though it's been a while since Mizzou and Miami have met, it's been even longer since Missouri was able to compete in its home state in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers have only had the opportunity once before, when they fell to Houston in 1982 in the Sweet 16.
With the opportunity to compete a short 126 miles from Columbia, the Tigers are expecting a strong turnout from fans.
"It's March, it's a different type of style of basketball. It's win-or-go-home. So I think they're going to embrace that, understand that," Jacob Crews said. "To be as close as we are, I think they're going to take full advantage."
Mizzou is coming off an early exit in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, falling to Kentucky 78-72 on March 12 in the second round.
Missouri has struggled with slow starts in its last three outings, a major factor of its two losses at the wire to Kentucky and Arkansas.
"We’ve just got to play for each other, stay connected as a team," Trent Pierce said. "Not be upset with missed shots or allow frustration to get to us. Just play our game."
Senior Mark Mitchell leads the Tigers on average in points, rebounds and assists with 18.3, 5.3 and 3.6, respectively. In the regular-season finale against the Razorbacks at Mizzou Arena, Mitchell set a new career high, scoring 32 points. In the loss to the Wildcats, Mitchell matched it in Nashville, Tennessee, in front of a Kentucky-centric crowd.
"Taking it one step at a time, take what the game gives me," Mitchell said. "I do what I can to help my team win. I had a good last couple games and it just turned out to be some big games for me, big season for me, but I've had the same mindset the whole season, and I'm just trying to keep that the same going forward."
Copyright 2026 Columbia Missourian
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Eye of the storm: Mizzou basketball faces Miami in NCAA Tournament first round."